iRemember Our Life Together
by bananarama92
Summary: Now an old man, Freddie remembers the ups and downs of his life with Sam.
1. Chapter 1

"How is she?"

"She's alright. Asleep, now" answered the nurse. "You can go right ahead"

I shuffled slowly down the corridor, step by step. Finally I reached the room at the very end of the corridor and I knocked softly on the door before opening it. I made my way inside and looked around the familiar room. The walls were painted pale yellow, and white lace curtains fluttered gently in the breeze that came in through the open windows. In one corner was a bureau, its surface cluttered with pill bottles, lotions, tubes of ointment and other such items. I walked slowly to the bed in the corner, where she was sleeping. Every time I saw her I was saddened by how old she looked. Her skin looked two sizes too big, and her once vibrant, long curly blonde hair was now white and wispy. Her arms and legs were painfully thin, and the bones in her chest stuck out. I knew it killed Sam to be stuck in a bed in a nursing home. It killed me to have to put her there, but I couldn't take care of her anymore. We both had the same problem. The mind was sound, but the body just wasn't able. I slowly lowered myself into my usual chair next to the bed, wincing as my joints protested. I made myself comfortable and looked at Sam sleeping peacefully. If I looked carefully, I could still find the girl I once knew. I closed my eyes, remembering the first time I met Sam.

I was sitting at a table in kindergarten, alone, colouring in a colouring book. Suddenly, a tiny girl with wildly curly blonde hair came and stood next to my chair, planting her hands on her hips. I looked up at her, terrified by the fierce expression she wore.

"Hi…" I said slowly, not sure what she wanted.

"I want that colouring book" she demanded. Well, that answered that question. I automatically held out the book, terrified of what this girl would do to me if I didn't. Unfortunately, our teacher was standing close enough to hear what was going on.

"Samantha!" she scolded. "That wasn't very nice. Freddie was colouring in that colouring book, so you can find another or wait until he's finished"

The girl wheeled around to face the teacher.

"My name is Sam, _not Samantha_" she said. "And I don't wanna wait. I want that colouring book NOW"

She leaned forward and grabbed the book from my hands, thumping my forehead before she started marching away. She didn't get far before the teacher grabbed her shoulder and wrenched the book out of her hands, giving it back to me.

"Sam, go and stand in the corner" she commanded. Sam glared up at her, and I could have sworn I saw the teacher cower a bit before she mirrored Sam's expression.

"And face the wall" she called after Sam, who was stomping to the corner. I watched Sam stand in the corner, her hands on her hips, and although I couldn't see her face, I could just picture the thunderous expression she wore as she glared at the wall. Suddenly, she whipped her head around and gave me the most murderous expression I had ever seen.

At recess, she cornered me by the swings.

"That was your fault" she growled at me. I looked at her, confused. My fault? How was it _my _fault? I was about to tell her that when I saw her expression.

"Sorry" I quickly apologized. She still looked furious, so I wondered what could possibly console her and stop her from killing me. Suddenly, I had an idea. I reached into my bag and pulled out a Fat Cake. Usually my mom didn't let me eat those, but the teacher had given me one after Sam thumped me, as a kind of consolation.

"Here" I said, holding it out to her.

"What is it?" she said, eyeing it suspiciously.

"It's a cake…thing" I said.

She took it, still looking at me suspiciously and opened it. She reached her hand into the package and broke off a tiny piece of Fat Cake. She put it in her mouth and chewed slowly, evaluating the taste. Then her eyes widened. She ripped off the rest of the package and shoved the rest of the Fat Cake into her mouth at once. I was watching her, fascinated and disgusted, when she turned and gave me a small smile through a mouthful of Fat Cake. I knew I was forgiven, for now.

_And she hasn't stopped eating those Fat Cakes since _I thought to myself. Even after they had been discontinued, I had managed to find a specialty store that sold them. Also, when Sam had heard that they were going to stop making Fat Cakes, she went insane and bought out the Fat Cake supply at six supermarkets, so we didn't run out for a while. Sam shifted in her sleep, causing her nightgown to slip down her shoulder and expose her collarbone, which stuck out of her thin chest. I had always loved to watch Sam sleep. Even before we were married, even before we were together, I loved to watch Sam sleep. She looked so innocent and peaceful when she was asleep, like a child, her eyelashes brushing her cheeks and her golden curls splayed haphazardly around her. Then, of course, she would wake up. And relentlessly cause me severe physical and emotional pain. I thought back to all the things she has done to me over the years. The pranks ranged from small and harmless (such as filling my shampoo bottle with blue cheese dressing) to huge and downright mean (making me get a fake tattoo of her face on my arm). I remembered the time she announced on iCarly that I had never kissed anyone. I remembered thinking that my life was over, and that I could never leave my house I again. I remembered begging my mom to let me move to Wyoming. But then Sam fixed it. That was the thing about Sam, she was constantly pulling crap like that, but she could always turn around and undo whatever she had done, no matter how hopeless it seemed. She had a way of pulling through and fixing the things that really mattered when she knew she had gone too far. I could still remember the feeling I got, sitting on the fire escape with my laptop, hearing Sam announce that she had never kissed anyone. Sam had seen the violent humiliation I had been enduring as a result of never kissing anyone, and she was willingly telling the world that _she_ had never kissed anyone, just to get them to lay off me. She was taking a metaphorical bullet for me, and I remembered realizing that what Sam had just done was possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. _Maybe she doesn't hate my guts as much as I thought_ I remembered thinking in astonishment. Then she had turned up on my fire escape. I closed my eyes again, allowing myself to get lost in the memory.

"Well? Should we? Just so both of us can get it over with?" I remembered being petrified at the very notion that Sam would say yes, but inexplicably sad at the notion that she would say no.

"Hmm. Just to get it over with?"

"Just to get it over with" I clarified, my stomach doing cartwheels.

"And you swear we both go right back to hating each other as soon as it's over"

"Oh totally" I remembered feeling a twinge of sadness somewhere in all that nervousness. "And we never tell anyone"

"Never"

We looked at each other, neither of us able to believe what was about to happen.

"Well. Lean" Sam commanded. I took a deep breath, braced myself and leaned towards Sam. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips against hers, trying to ignore the fireworks that were going off in my head.

_It's just the kiss. It's not Sam, it's just the kiss _I tried to convince myself. Yeah, okay.

I pulled back, opening my eyes. Sam and I looked at each other.

"Well...that was…" I began, not sure how to finish that sentence without getting beaten to a pulp.

"Nice" Sam finished.

"Yeah, nice" I said, relieved that she had taken that problem out of my hands.

"Good… work…" she said awkwardly.

"Thank you, you too" I said, wondering if she was feeling the same way I felt.

She got up to leave.

"Hey" I said, before I could stop myself. I suddenly realized that there was no way I could tell Sam what I really felt. Sam turned slowly, as though she was nervous to hear what I had to say.

"I hate you" I improvised, smiling. Somehow, that was even better than telling her I liked her. Somehow, it conveyed exactly what I was trying to say. I prayed that Sam would get the meaning behind the words. But she just gave a short laugh of relief.

"Hate you too" she said, before turning and leaving. I watched her go, then sank back in my seat and pondered what the hell had just happened_. _


	2. Chapter 2

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I could still remember every detail about that day with perfect clarity. As I got older my memory had been going, but I refused to lose that memory. I could still remember the slight chill in the air, and the song playing in the background, and the shirt Sam wore. I could still remember the smell of Sam's hair, the feel of her lips, and the butterflies in my stomach. I could remember the awkwardness, and the nervousness, and the unbearable sweetness. It was nothing at all like kissing Melanie. Melanie was forthright, and aggressive, and overly confident. Sam was shy, and waited for me to come to her, and held back what I wanted most. I had to laugh to myself at this thought. Usually Sam was the forthright aggressive one, but not when it came to matters like those. Being best friends with Carly for all those years had really done a number on her self-esteem when we were younger. Carly was sweet, and kind, and beautiful and everyone loved her. Guys followed her like puppy dogs wherever we went, and Sam was just her rude, vicious little sidekick. Sam was always in Carly's shadow, and underneath her abrasive exterior I had always sensed a vulnerability to Sam, a lack of self-confidence that spawned from the constant attention that Carly received. It killed me that Sam had no idea just how beautiful she was, how beautiful she always had been. Even when we were teenagers, and I was convinced that I was in love with Carly, and Sam was horrible to me, I couldn't deny that Sam was beautiful. She was pretty in a much more natural and subtle way than Carly. I remembered the day I realized that, the day that everything in my world turned upside down.

We were spending the day at the beach, with Spencer. We arrived at the beach and found a clear spot of sand to put our stuff down. Sam wanted to go swimming straight away, but Spencer made us put on sunblock first. I had been reaching into my bag to get my sunblock when I stood up and saw them. Carly and Sam were both standing side by side in their swimsuits. I had never seen Sam in a bikini, and it floored me. I had always known that she was slender (the girl attacked me enough times for me to know that she didn't weigh much) but underneath her clothes, I had never noticed the gentle curve of her waist, and the way her hipbones stuck out ever so slightly. The two of them stood next to each other in their swimsuits, make-up free and with their hair pulled back into buns, and I had a strange thought. _Wait….Sam is prettier than Carly? _This thought surprised the hell out of me, but as I looked at them, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was true. Suddenly, Sam laughed at something Carly said. I looked at her, wisps of her hair blowing around her face, her eyes crinkling as she roared with laughter, and I knew that it was true. Seeing them side-by-side, stripped of their beauty products, Sam was definitely prettier. I watched her all day, and as I watched, I found her more beautiful. There was something attractive in how Sam didn't care what she looked like, as long as she was having fun. When she suggested we go swimming, Carly wrinkled her nose and said that the salt made her hair all gross. Sam just shrugged and sprinted towards the sea, taking a decidedly ungraceful dive into the waves. When Spencer asked us to go and make a sandcastle with him, Carly decided to stay on her towel because she didn't like getting all sandy. Sam ran ahead of Spencer and skidded to a stop, causing sand to spray in a wide arc before she dropped to the sand and began digging a hole. Sam was who she was, and she didn't have to please anyone. And I loved it. That was the day that I realized that it was Sam, not Carly, who I really wanted.

I opened my eyes and looked at Sam again. She was sleeping on her side, facing me, her hair fanned out behind her. No matter how white and thin her hair got, Sam refused to cut it off. She had long hair all her life, she argued, and she wasn't cutting it now. As I watched, a lock of hair fell over her face, fluttering as she breathed. I reached over and very gently pushed the lock of hair back. She twitched slightly and I paused, afraid that I had woken her up, but she simply gave a little sigh in her sleep and shifted her head ever so slightly on the pillow. I pulled back my hand, sitting back in my chair and looking at her again. She frowned a little in her sleep, as though she was having a bad dream. I knew that face well – for over sixty years I had been taking care of Sam when she had nightmares and woke up crying in the middle of the night. I tensed, waiting for the inevitable tears that always accompanied those dreams. Fortunately, her face relaxed and she burrowed her head slightly deeper into the pillow, sighing again. I relaxed and sat back in my chair again, glad that the nightmare had passed. I thought about all the times that Sam had woken up crying and shaking, and I had comforted her, even before we were together. I cast my mind back to the first time it happened.

I had gone over to Carly's house to make some changes to the iCarly website one afternoon.

"Hey" I said, walking in and shutting the door behind me. "Mind if I go fix some stuff on iCarly?"

"Sure" said Carly, looking up from her book. "But just warning you, Sam is sleeping up there"

I debated leaving and coming back, because the prospect of waking Sam up was, quite frankly, terrifying, but I decided to risk it. I headed up the stairs to the studio, not wanting to wake Sam with the elevator dinging. I opened the door gingerly and poked my head inside, looking to see if Sam was still sleeping. I saw her curled up on a beanbag, sleeping peacefully. _Huh_ I thought to myself. _She looks so…innocent. It's kinda weird._ I tiptoed inside and shut the door quietly behind me. I was on my computer when I heard Sam begin to mutter in her sleep. I froze, terrified that I had woken her up, and arched my neck so that I could see her better. She was restless, but she was still asleep. As I watched, she continued muttering and twitching, throwing her head around.

"Sam?" I asked quietly, not sure if I should wake her or not. I began to walk towards her, but then I paused, not entirely sure what to do. Sam was clearly upset, but if I woke her up or tried to comfort her, she would probably hurt me. Then I saw that Sam's cheeks were glistening with tears, and I couldn't stop myself from walking slowly over to the beanbag. Sam caused me great distress on a daily basis, but I hated to see her upset. I also had never seen Sam Puckett cry in my life, so I knew that whatever she was dreaming about must really be upsetting her. I kneeled next to her and gently shook her shoulder.

"Sam?" I said softly. "Sam"

She didn't wake up, just kept twitching, muttering and crying. I shook her shoulder a little harder, and she woke with a jolt. She bolted upright, and the force caused her to roll off the beanbag and into me. She pushed me backwards from my knees into a sitting position, and ended up in my lap. I was expecting her to punch me, but to my astonishment, she curled up into a ball, leaning into my chest and sobbing. I sat, frozen for a moment in shock, but then I wrapped my arms around Sam, who was shaking with the intensity of her sobs. As I enveloped her in a hug, I rested my cheek on her head and began shushing her softly. I don't know how long we sat there, Sam sitting on my lap with her arms wrapped around her knees sobbing into my chest and me with my cheek resting on the top of her head and my arms wrapped tightly around her, rocking and shushing her. Eventually, Sam's sobs began to quieten. I leaned back slightly, trying to get a look at her face, which was still burrowed in my chest.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly. I felt her nod against my chest. I instinctively kissed the top of her head and gave her a quick squeeze before I reluctantly let her go. She sat upright, wiping her eyes and sniffling. She got up off my lap and sat back on the beanbag chair, leaning back and sighing heavily.

"Do you wanna… talk?" I asked nervously. I had never been in this kind of situation with Sam before, and I wasn't sure how to proceed. She looked at me as though she was trying to decide whether she wanted to talk to me or not. Finally, she closed her eyes and gave a gusty sigh.

"It's nothing, really. Just this nightmare I have. About my dad. When he died"

I froze, shocked at what I was hearing. Her dad? Sam _never _talked about her dad. Carly had told me Sam's story – her parents were eighteen and her mom got pregnant by mistake. Sam's dad didn't want a kid, far less two, and he was basically never around. He agreed to help support them, but he was a high school dropout, and the only job he could find was dealing drugs. Carly had also told me that he had died, but she didn't know how. Whenever she tried to talk to Sam about it, Sam would change the subject or just plain ignore her. Sam hadn't even talked to Carly about this, and she was telling me?

"What happened?" I asked, treading carefully. I knew that Sam could revert back to how she usually was at any moment, and I didn't really want to say anything to set her off.

"He was a drug dealer" she said quietly. "He got into trouble with some gang, I'm not sure what exactly happened. He was at our house, figuring they wouldn't find him. But they did…" she trailed off, her voice beginning to crack.

"My mom was with Melanie at a ballet recital, so it was just me and my dad at home" she continued, and I could see her eyes glazed over, lost in memory. "These guys began to beat on our door, threatening my dad. He shoved me into a closet and told me not to make a sound. I sat there in the dark, not sure what was going on. I heard the guys kick down the door and yell at my dad, threatening to kill him if he didn't give them money. He began to make excuses, saying he would get it, but they shot him" Sam broke off, beginning to cry again. I reflexively reached out and held her hand, and she didn't pull away.

"When I was sure they were gone I got out of the closet. My dad was on the floor, with a bullet in his chest, and there was blood… so much blood…" she closed her eyes and trailed off, her voice breaking again. I held her hand and we sat in silence until Sam could speak again.

"And ever since, I have had this nightmare, always the same one. I dream that they come and get my dad and they shoot him, but then they find me…." she trailed off again, looking down.

"Oh Sam…" I said, not sure how to continue. I squeezed her hand.

"If you ever need me, call. Seriously. I don't care what time it is or what I'm doing" I said, looking into her eyes, which were red and bloodshot. She looked back at me and gave a small smile.

"Careful, nub, I just might take you up on that" she said.

"Good" I said. "Anytime you need me, call"

She nodded and gave me a grateful smile before she stood up. She held out her hand and helped me up, hoisting me to my feet. We walked downstairs together in silence, and although we both had an unspoken agreement to never tell anyone what had just happened, things changed after that day. Sam still mercilessly picked on me, but our friendship grew a lot stronger. As much as we both tried to deny it, we had become very good friends since iCarly started, and this incident cemented our friendship. And ever since that day, I had been comforting Sam when she had nightmares. She would call me, in tears, and I would stay on the phone with her until she had calmed down enough to go back to sleep. Once we moved in together, she would wake me up and I would hold her until she fell asleep in my arms. As she got older she had fewer nightmares, and as far as I knew, she hadn't had one in years.


	3. Chapter 3

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I opened my eyes again. Sam was still sleeping, her breathing slow and rhythmic. I listened to her steady breaths, and watched her eyelids flutter a little bit. _Is she waking up? _I thought hopefully. But Sam just rolled over and continued snoozing. _I shouldn't be surprised _I thought. _Sam has a history of getting my hopes up and then letting me down_ I said to myself with a laugh. We went around in circles before we officially started dating. Sam would string me along and then push me away, and it drove me crazy. Crazy in the best way. I loved how unpredictable she was, how she made me fight for it. For almost a year we engaged in a complicated dance, both of us circling around each other but Sam darting out of my grasp whenever I tried to catch her. I thought of the first night she realized she had me exactly where she wanted me.

It was a dance at school. Everyone was excited about their dress, their shoes, their date. Girls chattered excitedly in the halls, and guys could be seen left and right steeling themselves up to ask someone. Carly couldn't wait, since the guy she had been obsessing over for months had asked her. Sam didn't have a date yet, and neither did I. I knew that I should hurry up and ask someone before all the girls got dates, but I couldn't ask the girl I really wanted to go with. I knew that even if Sam didn't get a date, she would never be desperate enough to go with me. Eventually, Jonah asked Sam, and she said yes. We all stared at her in shock when she told us, but she just brushed it off.

"The dance is two days away" she said nonchalantly. "I need to go with someone"

She said it casually, but I could tell how sad she really was that she had to resort to scum like Jonah. I myself asked a girl called Bethany, who was pretty enough, really nice and I knew had been waiting for Jonah to ask her. Once she found out he had asked someone else she agreed to go with me, and although I knew she wasn't really into me, I didn't care. The day of the dance arrived, and I went to Bethany's house to pick her up. We got to school and walked into the dance, and I immediately saw Carly and her boy toy on the dance floor. I scanned the room and I saw Sam sitting a corner. Alone. I escorted Bethany over to her.

"Hey Sam" I said, trying not to stare at her. She was wearing a blue dress that showed off her slender figure perfectly, and she looked amazing. "You look great"

"I know" she replied.

"Where's Jonah?" Bethany asked eagerly.

"I dunno" Sam answered viciously. "He ditched me as soon as we walked in. I think he's over there" she said, waving her hand in the general direction of the refreshments table. With that, Bethany took off in search of Jonah, leaving me alone with Sam. I plopped into a chair next to her with a sigh.

"Well then. I've been here for two minutes and I'm already having a crappy time"

"Oh, suck it up, nub" said Sam. "I've been having a crappy time since I got here twenty minutes ago. I win"

We sat there in silence, both of us with our arms crossed over our chests. We didn't say much, just sulked at the loss of our dates. The final straw came when we saw Jonah and Bethany making out in a corner.

"That's it" I said, standing up. "I'm going home"

"Mind if I come?" Sam asked me. "I'm sleeping at Carly's and I'm meant to go home with her, but I don't think she's leaving for a while…" she finished, looking at Carly and boy toy, who were pressed together on the dance floor.

"Sure" I said. She got up and we started to walk to the exit. Halfway there, Sam took off her heels and walked barefoot the rest of the way, her shoes in her hand. We got to my car and got in, Sam throwing her shoes to the floor before pulling out her phone and texting Carly to let her know that she was leaving. We spent the ride to Bushwell in silence, neither of us really in the mood to talk. We reached Bushwell and walked to the lobby, ignoring Lewbert's shrieks about people in his lobby. We rode the elevator upstairs and walked down the hall until we reached the apartments.

"Well, goodnight" I said, taking out my key to unlock the door.

"Night" said Sam, opening the Shay's apartment. She went to close the door behind her, but then she stopped and poked her head around the door.

"Hey, Freddie?" she said. I turned around to face her. "Thanks" she said before she disappeared.

I smiled and went into my empty apartment. My mom was working the night shift, so she wouldn't be home until tomorrow morning. I wasn't really tired, so I changed into my pajamas and went and sat out on the fire escape with my PearPod. I came out here a lot, just to think. Suddenly, I picked up my phone. I don't know what compelled me to do it, but I texted Sam.

_are you tired?_

Soon enough, my phone buzzed. I picked it up and read Sam's reply.

_not really. you?_

I texted her back, not really sure why I was texting her in the first place.

_nope. i'm out on the fire escape, if you wanna join me. just warning you, i'm in my pajamas, so if you wanna be comfy, then wear yours by all means._

As I was waiting for Sam's reply, I heard a knock on the window. I turned around and saw Sam in a purple tank top and a pair of plaid pajama bottoms climbing through the window. Her makeup had been scrubbed off and her hair was in a French plait that extended down her back in a long, golden column. It always amazed me, the things girls could do to their hair.

"Hey" I said, a little surprised that she actually came. She walked over and sat on the ledge opposite me. We looked at each other for a moment.

"Not a very fun dance, was it?" I said softly.

"Nope" Sam answered, shaking her head. Then she noticed the music playing in the background. She grabbed my PearPod and began scrolling through the songs.

"Who says we can't have our own awesome dance?" she said, selecting an energetic, fun song and playing it at full volume. She put the PearPod down and began to dance, thrashing and flailing her limbs around wildly. I laughed as I watched her spaz on my fire escape, then I had the insatiable urge to join her. I stood up and began thrashing with her. The two of us danced on the fire escape together, and all of a sudden we weren't Sam and Freddie anymore. We were one being, and we were dancing out everything we were feeling. We jumped and twirled and flailed and had a great time. We finally collapsed near the end of the song, both of us panting and laughing. Sam's plait had come loose, and wisps of her hair blew gently around her face.

"There, see?" she said, shouting slightly over the last chords of the song. "Our dance is way better than that lame school dance"

Suddenly, the next song came on. I heard the opening guitar and I felt my stomach drop to my knees. Running Away, by AM. The song that was playing when we kissed, on this very fire escape. _Fate has a weird sense of humour _I thought. I looked at Sam, wondering if she recognized the song as well. By the look on her face, I guessed that she did. She looked at me, and her expression was like nothing I had ever seen on her. It was reminiscent and almost…tender. Before I knew what I was doing, I was on my feet and extending my hand to her. She looked at my hand like it was a poisoned glass of water and she was dying of dehydration. She wanted it, but she didn't. Finally she took my hand and I pulled her to her feet. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I wrapped mine around her waist, and we swayed on the fire escape. I pulled her closer to me, pressing our bodies together, and she didn't complain. She looked up and me, and I looked down at her. Our eyes locked for a moment, and then before I could stop myself, I leaned down and I kissed her. I felt her hesitate briefly before she gave in. We stopped swaying and I pulled her even closer. She began playing with the hair at the nape of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. I didn't know what was happening, but I knew that I never wanted this moment to end. I wanted to stay here forever and ever with Sam, our lips pressed together and the world around us completely irrelevant. Sam broke the kiss and looked up at me.

"Wow, Fredward. There's something about this fire escape and this song that make you wanna get jiggy"

I said nothing, just rolled my eyes at her.

"I know what it is. Something about the combination of the two makes me irresistible" she joked.

"You are irresistible" I said softly, laying a trail of soft, tiny kisses down her neck, from behind her ear to her collarbone. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, giving a little hum of contentment. Then she brought her head back up and took my face in both hands, bringing it up from her collarbone to look at her. She gave me one soft kiss and then turned around and climbed through the window.

"See you later, Fredward" she said with a soft smile before she disappeared. I sat in my chair on the fire escape just like I had after we first kissed, and once again watched her go, then sank back in my seat and once again pondered what the hell had just happened_. _

I thought things would change between us after that night and they did, but not the way I was expecting. I was expecting us to be dating, so I was surprised when Sam acted like nothing had happened the next day. I went to say something, but she cut me off with a slight shake of her head and I stopped talking, sealing my fate. From then on, Sam would launch sneak attacks on me, pouncing on me when we were alone and kissing me before leaving and pretending nothing had happened. It frustrated me, but I liked it. I liked the unpredictable, spontaneous kisses in closets, and empty classrooms, and stairwells. If I tried to say anything about it, or act even remotely like we were dating, Sam would silence me with a look or a thump to the forehead. I knew that Sam was playing with me, and toying with me for her own amusement, but I didn't care. I was perfectly happy being her toy, if I'm being honest. I found it exciting. Finally, she got bored with her game, and decided that the time was ripe for us to be official.

I was sitting on Carly's couch with Spencer and Carly when Sam walked into the apartment without so much as a hello. None of us were surprised by this, it wasn't unusual for Sam to barge in. What _was _unusual, however, was for Sam to barge in, march over the couch, throw herself onto my lap and kiss me very exuberantly. I could feel Carly and Spencer staring at us in shock, but I didn't care. Sam pulled away and winked at me.

"WHAT. THE. HELL." Carly yelled. I turned to look at her and Spencer, who were wearing identical expressions of shock.

"What was THAT?" Spencer shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Are you two together?" Carly asked in astonishment. I looked at Sam, who was curled up very happily on my lap, leaning into my chest.

"Are we?" I asked. She nodded and I couldn't help but grin hugely and plant a kiss on her nose, wrapping my arms around her. Carly leaped off the couch and pulled me and Sam into a huge hug. Spencer joined in, wrapping his arms around all three of us.

"It's about time!" Carly said, slightly muffled by the hug. We all let go and Sam and I looked at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" asked Sam.

"Oh, come on. We all knew that you two would end up together. Ever since iCarly started"

We turned to look at Spencer, who nodded.

"Why do you think I kept turning you down?" she asked me, poking me in the stomach. "I knew I wasn't right for you. Sam is."

"Well, you could have told me, instead of leaving me lonely and pining for six years" I said. Carly laughed and shook her head at me like I was missing the most obvious thing in the world.

"No I couldn't. What would you have said if I _had _told you that?" she asked. She had a point. "This was one of those things you had to figure out on your own" she said softly.

Spencer took us out to celebrate that night, and I couldn't stop touching Sam all night. I didn't even notice it until Carly pointed it out to me teasingly, but I was always finding a way to touch her. I would hold her hand, or put my arm around her waist, or rest my knee against hers when we sat down. I couldn't help it. Now that Sam was officially mine, I wanted the whole world to know.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I took so long to update, but I wasn't sure if I should continue with this story. Then I decided "what the hell" so here is chapter 4. I like reviews :)**

I remembered the huge grin I wore for the entire night. I couldn't help it – I had been waiting for Sam for nearly a year, and she was finally mine. _Not that we were always that happy_ I couldn't help but think. Things didn't change between me and Sam when we started dating – she still picked on me relentlessly. Our relationship had a very hot-and-cold nature - when we were happy we were blissfully happy, but when we were mad at each other, it was World War III. Since we started dating Sam learned more about me, which meant she learned exactly which buttons to push to get me really riled up. I remember Carly making us watch some chick flick, The Notebook, and I couldn't help but think that Sam and I were exactly like the couple in the movie, only not as bad. There was one quote in that movie that I had never forgotten - _They didn't agree on much. In fact they rarely agreed on anything. They fought all the time and they challenged each other every day, __b__ut in spite their differences, they had one important thing in common - they were crazy about each other. _That was Sam and I. We fought nearly every day, whether they were teasing little arguments or huge screaming wars, but at the end of the day, I still wanted to be with her. As soon as I stormed out of a room after I fight, I missed her and I wanted her beside me. Carly used to look scandalized when she saw us facing each other, hollering at the top of our lungs. She would try to break it up, which almost never worked. I would then leave in a huff, slamming the door behind me, and return twenty minutes later, give Sam a kiss and act like nothing ever happened. I guess the only word to truly describe our relationship is passionate. We were passionate about each other, and I think that was the real cause of all the fights. The longer Sam and I were together, the more I realized that Carly was right. Carly was sweet, and kind, and bubbly, but she wasn't right for me. If we were together, we would have been boring, because we were too similar. There would have been nothing in our relationship to keep it exciting. I had always seen Carly as perfect – kind, beautiful, smart, funny, whereas Sam was mean, and rude, and violent. But the longer I was with Sam, the more I realized that she was perfect in her imperfections. And, more importantly, she was perfect for me.

I was brought out of my musings by Sam muttering in her sleep. I listened carefully, trying to discern what she was saying, but it was unintelligible. The mutters finally petered out, and she was silent again. She shifted in her sleep, and I could see something on the bed next to her. I stood slowly, my hips creaking, and picked it up. It was the anniversary card I had given her three weeks before, for our fifty third wedding anniversary. _Has it really been fifty three years? _I remembered her asking when I gave her the card. _Have I really put up with you for fifty three years? _I laughed and poked her gently in her side, feeling her ribs sticking out. _Longer _I reminded her. _We've been married for fifty three years, but you have been putting up with me since we were four. _I thought about that statement after I said it. I had known Sam a long time, longer than Carly. I thought about everything we had gone through, all the times we had shared. It kind of amazed me when I realized that almost every memory I had involved Sam. Even if she was there in the background, she was still there. Sam was the common thread that ran through my life, from age four onward, and I was glad. I was glad that Sam and I hadn't graduated, gone our separate ways, and never really seen each other again. Most of my friends from high school were hazy memories, people I saw every ten years at reunions or met by chance in the supermarket. I was glad that Sam had stayed with me. _She nearly didn't _I reminded myself. I thought back to that night, so many years ago.

Sam and I were fighting. It wasn't unusual for us to be fighting, but we had never fought like this before. I don't even remember what it was we were fighting about, but it was getting intense. We stood facing each other, gesturing wildly as we screamed at the top of our lungs. Never in my life had I been so mad at her. Never.

"YOU'RE SUCH A BITCH!" I screamed at her, my face going red.

"AND YOU'RE A JACKASS!" she screamed back, a vein in her neck popping out. Suddenly she stepped forward, closing the space between us, and she slapped me in the face with all of her considerable might. I reeled backwards in shock, my cheek stinging. Sam hit me all the time, but she had never hit me during a fight. In all of our arguments, neither of us had ever resorted to physical contact. I spun around and walked out the door. I wrenched it open, and then turned to face Sam.

"It's over" I said quietly. Somehow this quiet, calm tone was far more effective than screaming it at her. And with that, I wheeled around and left, slamming the door behind me.

I crossed the hall, making to go home, but something made me turn and go towards the elevator. I needed to go for a walk to clear my head. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Sam and I were over. I knew that it was for real because this was the first time that I had ever stormed out after a fight and not immediately wanted to go back. I walked out of the lobby and onto the street. The sun was now beginning to set, and I could see some stars beginning to twinkle in the sky, which was streaked with pink and orange. There was a slight chill in the wind, and I wrapped my hoodie around myself before I began walking. There was a park across the street that I had been going to ever since I was a kid. I crossed the street and walked onto the grass of the park. I walked around the park, seeing parents bundling up their kids to take them home and couples walking hand in hand or sitting on the benches together. I felt a pang when I remembered that Sam and I used to come to this park a lot, that we used to be one of those couples walking with their fingers twined, looking so happy. I don't know how long I walked around that park, watching the sky go from pink to purple to a dark, inky blue. As I walked and I calmed down, I began to realize what I had done. I had broken up with Sam in a fit of rage, and I was beginning to realize what a huge mistake that was.

"I'm such an idiot" I said out loud as I plopped onto a bench.

"No arguments here"

I whipped my head around and saw Sam walking towards me, her hands shoved into the pockets of her hoodie. She came and sat next to me, sitting with a gusty sigh.

"Sam…" I began, but she cut me off.

"Don't even" she said, putting one of her hands on mine, which was resting on my leg.

"I'm sorry" she said. "I know I shouldn't have done what I did. I guess I like to see how far I can push you, you know? Test my limits. You put up with so much of my crap, Freddie, and you shouldn't have to"

"Well, I've been putting up with your crap for years" I said, nudging her leg with mine. "I'm used to it"

"You may be a nub, Fredward, but you're a good guy" she said, smiling at me and squeezing my hand. "And I take advantage of that, which I shouldn't. I get why you would dump me. But I will miss you" she said with a sad smile.

"Sam" I said, flipping my hand underneath hers so that I could interlock our fingers. "I shouldn't have broken up with you. It was a stupid mistake. It happened, what, half an hour ago?" I said, looking at my watch. "And I was already missing you"

She smiled and gave my hand a gentle squeeze, which I reciprocated.

"Sam, I love you" I said before I could stop myself. I had sort of blurted it out, but I had never been surer of anything. I froze, worried that I had scared her, but she simply gave me a gentle smile.

"I love you too, dork" she said softly.

Nothing can describe the feeling I got when she said those words. I grabbed her and kissed her, feeling her smile through the kiss. I then stood up and held out my hand to her. She took it with a smile and got up, and we walked hand in hand back to Bushwell in silence, both of us grinning hugely.

I smiled at the memory of that night. The night where I had almost lost the love of my life and said "I love you" for the first time and meant it. After that night the fights between Sam and I didn't stop, but they definitely began to happen less often. The fights we did have weren't as intense as they used to be, either. They were more like teasing little arguments, with no screaming or storming out. Sam and I had briefly realized what our lives would be without each other, and we didn't want to lose each other again. You know that saying, you don't know what you've got till it's gone? Well Sam was only gone for half an hour, but I realized in that time just how special she was and just how much she meant to me. Whenever Sam and I would get angry at each other, and a fight looked imminent, I would think of that night, and remind myself of how awful I felt when she was gone. I would remember how I walked around that park thinking of how amazing Sam was and all of the things I loved about her, and suddenly, the fight would stop. I'm sure Sam thought I was bipolar or something, because the two of us would be getting all heated up and furious at each other, then I would suddenly grin at her and sweep her off her feet in a kiss. Soon enough, the fights all but stopped completely. Obviously we still had a few fights, I mean, what couple doesn't have disagreements sometimes? But the fights we had were few and far between, and they were about things that mattered.


	5. Chapter 5

**Review and I will give you a virtual cookie.**

I opened my eyes and looked again at Sam, thinking of how lucky I was. Sure we had our ups and downs, but all in all we had a pretty incredible life together. Sam and I were polar opposites, but we worked. I made Sam grow up and become a little more responsible, and she made me loosen up a little. Sam was spontaneous, and creative, and would often wake me up with a huge idea of something we could do, or somewhere we could go, an adventure we could have. I talked her out of the crazier ones, but generally I went along, shaking my head at her as she ran around excitedly like a little child. Once, we decided to go out for dinner, and Sam had the idea to take every left turn we found and see where it took us. It took us into some dingy, rundown neighbourhood where we managed to find the best pizza I had ever eaten in the dirtiest, smallest shop I had ever seen and get chased away from the neighbourhood by four hobos brandishing blood-stained hockey sticks because we wouldn't give them our pants. A lot of my best memories were of incidents like this, incidents that terrified me at the time but I laughed at now. Almost all of these incidents were caused directly or indirectly by Sam, who would have an idea that led us on an epic adventure. We used to tell the stories to our grandkids, and they would sit in awe at the crap we had done. We would all laugh together at the fixes Sam had gotten us into (and usually out of). The kids would also laugh at Sam, because she hadn't changed a bit since we were kids, and what was slightly rude and a little mean when we were teenagers was downright shocking coming from an old lady. Our stories were frequently punctuated with our kids admonishing Sam. 'Mom!' they would say, scandalized. Sam would inevitably retort that she had been talking like that all her life, even around them, and they had turned out okay. 'For the most part' she would tack onto the end teasingly.

Suddenly Sam rolled over, bringing her tiny hands up to rest on the pillow by her face. I could see her engagement ring on her left hand, shining in the sunlight. I smiled when I saw it, remembering how long it had taken me to find that ring. I had spent about three hundred bucks in gas alone trying to find the right ring for Sam. Sam was not your average girl, and none of the rings I saw seemed right for her. I desperately wanted to get this right, and although I saw a few that would have been okay, there were none that jumped out at me as being perfect for Sam. I was about to give up and go buy one of the okay ones when I saw a sparkle out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see what it was and I saw a small shop that I never would have noticed otherwise. I walked over to it and there, in the dingy window, was the perfect ring for Sam. The only way it could have been better was if the diamond was shaped like a leg of ham. I ran inside and bought it, then headed home, exhausted from my day of ring hunting. Now that I had the ring, the next step was the proposal. I leaned back in my chair, once again lost in memory.

I had never been so nervous in my life. Not during my driver's test, not when I got my SAT results back, not when I first kissed Sam. I was trying not to show how anxious I was, but I was doing a pretty poor job, fidgeting and even sweating a bit. I was taking Sam out to dinner to a new place I had heard about that would be perfect for Sam. On the drive down, I couldn't stop twitching.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked me.

"It's a secret" I said, tapping the steering wheel spastically.

"You know I hate secrets" Sam said. "And why are you so...twitchy?"

"You'll like this secret, I promise" I assured her. "And I'm not twitchy"

We bantered like this back and forth for almost the entire ride, until I saw the restaurant.

"Here we are!" I announced, pulling into the parking lot. Sam looked up at the sign on the restaurant.

"Marty's Meat Shack?" she read, slightly confused. "What is this place?"

"It's an all-you-can-eat meat buffet" I said, grinning at Sam's expression. She had opened her eyes wide and was looking at me like I had just told her she won the lottery.

"Well, they say it's all-you-can-eat, but after you're done I think they might-" I broke off as Sam leaped across the car and planted her lips on mine.

"You are the best boyfriend EVER" she told me excitedly.

"Yeah, I know" I said with a smile. We got out of the car and Sam all but ran to the door, dragging me behind her. As soon as we sat down she grabbed her plate and bounded back up again, running over to the buffet, which was a vegetarian's worst nightmare. The entire length of the room was one long table piled high with meat, from pork, to beef, to chicken, to other meats like lamb. I picked up my own plate and walked over to the buffet, helping myself. When I returned to our table, I saw Sam already sitting there, her plate piled a good three inches high, chewing on a rib with a rapturous look on her face. I sat down and Sam scoffed at my plate.

"That's all you're having?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Not all of us have the appetite of a football team" I teased, inwardly marvelling at how much food Sam could eat, and yet stay so skinny. Three helpings later, Sam was finally full, leaning back in her chair with a sigh and patting her stomach. I paid the bill and we left. Sam made for the car, but I stopped her.

"It's a nice night" I said. "Let's go for a walk"

"Okay" she said, heading towards the exit. I put my hands in my pockets, feeling the ring box waiting on me, and caught up to her. I knew that the restaurant was close to a beach, so I asked around until I found out where to go and we headed towards it. When we reached the beach it was deserted, which I preferred. I had never been a big fan of crowds. We took off our shoes and walked on the beach hand in hand, feeling the cool sand between our toes. We walked for a while until we found a sand dune, where we sat, leaning against the dune and stretching our legs out in front of us. Sam leaned against me, resting her head on my chest, and we sat in silence, watching the moon's reflection on the water. _Get a move on_ a little voice inside my head reprimanded me. I began to sit up, causing Sam to sit up also.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking at me concernedly.

"Sam" I began, shifting so that I was kneeling in front of her. "I love you, and I promise that if you'll let me I will spend every day of the rest of my life trying to make you happy"

"What are you…" she trailed off and widened her eyes as I pulled the ring box out of my pocket and opened it.

"Sam Puckett" I said, taking a deep breath. "Will you marry me?"

She looked at me for a moment, her eyes still wide, before she gave me a huge grin.

"Of course I will, nub" she said, holding out her hand so that I could slide the ring onto it. It fit her perfectly. "What took you so long?"

With that, she gave a short laugh and launched herself at me, knocking me onto my back and landing on top of me. She kissed me, and I kissed her, and we rolled around in the sand, laughing in sheer joy. When we finally got up we were both covered in sand but grinning from ear to ear. We brushed off the sand before we started walking back up the beach, both of us incandescently happy. The joy gave us both tons of energy, so we didn't walk back up the beach so much as skip and run and jump and essentially behave like four year olds. We finally reached the car, out of breath and laughing, and got in. Sam immediately pulled out her phone.

"Who are you calling?" I asked.

"Carly" she said, like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"No, lets tell her in person!" I said. Sam nodded vigorously at that suggestion and began to dial another number.

"My mom" she said when I gave her a quizzical look. I listened as Sam told her mom, and I could hear the shrieking and squealing on the other end of the line. Sam held the phone away from her ear and winced, trying not to get deafened by the cacophony of screams on the other end. She finally hung up and I pulled out my phone to call my own mom. I dialled her number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey mom, it's me" I said. "Listen, I have some news. Sam and I are getting married!"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before my mom erupted into congratulations.

"Mom? Mom" I said, trying to stem the flow of ideas for the engagement party and wedding that kept pouring out of her mouth. "Mom, I'm driving, so I'll talk to you soon" I said, knowing that she didn't like people talking and driving at the same time. I hung up and rolled my eyes at Sam, who giggled.

"You know what?" she said. "I've heard storied about mothers-in-law from hell, but I think I have them all beat with your mom"

I laughed and took her hand, squeezing it as we pulled into Bushwell, where Carly was home for the summer. We parked and went in, and I looked around the familiar building. Carly, Sam and I were all at university, but Sam was the only one who stayed in Seattle, so she had an apartment a few blocks down. Carly still lived with Spencer in Bushwell when she was home, and I lived with Sam. Once I moved in with Sam, my mom moved out of Bushwell and into a smaller apartment, so it had been a while since I had been here. As we walked in we were greeted by Lewbert's shrieks, and we couldn't help but laugh. We took the elevator up to Carly's floor and I looked around the familiar hallway. I knocked on the door with one hand, wrapping the other arm around Sam's waist. Carly answered the door.

"Hey, guys!" she said, opening the door a little wider to let us in. "What are you doing here?"

Sam wordlessly held out her hand to show Carly, grinning from ear to ear. Carly looked confused for a moment, but then she saw the ring. Her face lit up and she began to scream, wrapping us both in a bone-crushing hug and jumping around. Over Carly's shoulder I could see Spencer run in with a baseball bat in his hand.

"Carly!" he shouted. "Are you okay? What's going on?" he asked, catching sight of us. Carly released us, grinning.

"Tell him!" she said excitedly.

"We're getting married" I said, wrapping my arm around Sam's waist again and pulling her closer to me.

Spencer's eyes grew wide and he ran over to us, enveloping us both in a hug that actually lifted us off the ground.

"SERIOUSLY?" he hollered in my ear.

"TRUE CHIZ" I hollered back, smiling. He put us down, still grinning. As soon as we were back on the floor Carly gave us both another hug, and Spencer wrapped his arms around all three of us, and we all jumped around, cheering. We stayed there until early hours of the morning, talking. It had been a long time since we had done that, and it was good to really catch up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Please review. Please? It would make me very happy :)**

I opened my eyes again and wiped away the tear rolling down my cheek. Carly had died a few months ago, and it still hurt to think about her. When it happened Sam was completely inconsolable, spending days just sitting in her armchair at home and looking out the window. She refused to eat, and I had to carry her into bed when she fell asleep there every night. Eventually she began to get over it, but even now I would come to visit and I would find her lying in bed with a faraway look and tears in her eyes. When we all went to university we had been worried that Carly would forget about us and make all new friends, but it didn't happen that way. She called us once a week every week, even if it was just a quick hello before she ran to class, and when she came home we saw each other all the time. Carly had brought Sam and me together, and the three of us stayed a tightly knit group until she died. We were friends through it all – relationships, break ups, marriages, kids, ups, downs, happiness, sorrow. Our kids treated Carly like a second mother, and are still best friends with Carly's kids, who are the same sort of ages as ours. When our kids began to have their own kids, they also became best friends. When Spencer died (in a fire, unsurprisingly) we were the only ones she would let into the house, far less talk to. Spencer had been a father figure to not only me, but Sam as well, and in that respect, Carly was like our sister. The three of us extended beyond friends – we were family. And although both of us were devastated when Carly died, Sam took it particularly hard. I knew that one of us had to be strong and it wasn't going to be Sam, so I hadn't really properly faced it yet, because I knew that if I did, I would break down, and Sam needed me. I pushed the thoughts of Carly out of my head and got up to get a tissue from Sam's bureau. While I was there I saw our wedding picture, framed, sitting at the forefront of all the others. I picked it up and looked at it, smiling at how young and happy we looked. I thought back to our wedding day with a smile.

I was petrified. If I thought that proposing was nerve-racking, that was _nothing _compared to what I was feeling now. I was pacing around the small room where I was getting dressed, and I was having a major freak-out. I wasn't even properly dressed; I was just pacing frantically in circles wearing my pants and an unbuttoned shirt, my eyes wide and manic. I caught sight of myself in the mirror and I couldn't help but notice that I looked quite deranged. _Why didn't we just elope? _I thought. _That would have been so much easier than this. _I heard the door open and Carly poked her head inside.

"Freddie?" she asked. "Are you dressed?"

Like it mattered. Over the years, Carly and I had become so comfortable around each other that we had seen each other all but naked. As we got older we realized that it didn't really matter, and I had zipped Carly into many a dress and come into her room to help her decide what to put on when she was pacing in her underwear panicking that she had nothing to wear. Also, more than once when one of us got really drunk, the other had to put them to bed, which involved changing them and occasionally shoving them in the shower in their underwear if they really reeked. Carly walked in and closed the door behind her, and then looked around and saw me walking in frantic circles around the room.

"Freddie! Are you okay?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned. I stopped pacing and whipped around to face her.

"Do you have a cigarette?" I asked her. She looked at me, puzzled.

"Freddie, you don't smoke"

"I've decided to take it up"

"Freddie!" she half-shouted. "Relax. Breathe"

I spread my arms and put my hands on the table, hanging my head and taking deep breaths. Gradually I began to calm down. I stood up straight and looked at Carly.

"You okay?" she asked me. I nodded and closed my eyes, still breathing deeply. I heard Carly come clacking over in her heels, and I felt her begin to button up my shirt.

"Freddie, you can do this" she told me quietly. "This is Sam we're talking about. All you have to do is go out there and repeat after the minister"

I nodded and opened my eyes. Now that I had calmed down, I actually looked at Carly.

"Carly, you look beautiful" I told her. She smiled and gave a little twirl, showing off her dress.

"Oh, I'm nothing. Wait till you see the bride" she said, winking. She had finished buttoning up my shirt and was now tying my bowtie for me.

"There" she said, straightening it a little. She held open my jacket for me and I shrugged it on and buttoned it up. Carly spun me around to face her and smiled.

"You look great, Freddie. Slightly panicked, but that's okay" she said with a smile. She took my hand and squeezed it.

"You ready?" she asked. I nodded, my heart racing and my palms sweating. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and then headed out the door. I took one last look at myself in the mirror before I turned and followed Carly out the door. As I walked out I could see people sitting down, chatting with each other and fanning themselves with the order of service. The wedding was outside in a garden, and although we were all thanking God that it wasn't raining (a rarity in Seattle) we were cursing the heat and humidity, despite the fact that it was late afternoon. I took my place at the top of the aisle, trying to look calm even though my pulse was racing. I took deep breaths to calm myself and tried to ignore all the people looking at me. Suddenly, I saw Carly appear at the other end of the aisle. She signalled the pianist to begin playing and gave me a reassuring smile before disappearing again. As I heard the familiar wedding march, my heart rate increased tenfold. Carly appeared around the corner and began walking up the aisle, holding her bouquet of flowers and smiling. Behind her came Melanie, also smiling as she sashayed down the aisle. The music swelled and everyone stood up as Sam appeared around the corner on Spencer's arm. As soon as I saw her, everything else disappeared. The people in the chairs, the photographer, the bridesmaids, my mother sobbing loudly into an enormous handkerchief – they all vanished. Months of deciding on food and flowers and colour schemes and decorations, and suddenly, none of it mattered. All that mattered was the girl walking down the aisle, looking happier than I had ever seen her. Over the past few weeks I had been mildly curious about Sam's dress. Sam wasn't your average girl, and she didn't really do dresses, so I was wondering what it would look like. I had asked, but of course I wasn't allowed to know. Even if they had told me, nothing could have prepared me for this. Sam looked breathtaking. Her dress was strapless and tight to her hips, highlighting her narrow waist and slender figure, before it flared slightly and fell loosely to the floor. Her hair was loose, her curls tumbling over her shoulders as usual and her makeup was subtle. She looked like the Sam I knew and loved, only amplified. She reached the end of the aisle and she gave her bouquet to Carly before giving Spencer a huge hug. Spencer walked over and took his place beside me as my best man and I took Sam's hand. The minister began his sermon and I squeezed Sam's hand gently.

"You look beautiful" I whispered to her out of the corner of my mouth. She smiled shyly.

"You don't look so bad yourself, nub" she whispered back. "You clean up pretty good"

We said our vows and exchanged our rings and signed the register. I walked back up the aisle with my wife on my arm (how I loved thinking that!), both of us unable to stop smiling. We posed for endless pictures, and although my cheeks began to ache from smiling, I couldn't stop.


	7. Chapter 7

**Last chapter, guys. I thought this story was longer haha. Oops. Review, let me know what you think, what I need to work on if and when I write another story. Thanks :)**

**Just by the way, in case you care, the picture that Freddie is looking at that was taken in the hospital? That is an exact description of a picture of my mom and my two older sisters with me in the hospital after I was born :) ****3**

I looked down at the picture in my hands. It was one of my favourites, snapped by chance. Sam and I had been standing next to each other, smiling for the camera, when the photographer asked us to take a step to the left. The heel of Sam's shoe had sunk into the grass, however, and when she tried to step across she tripped and fell into me. We both fell backwards, Sam landing in my lap. In the photo, we were both sitting on the ground laughing, Sam in my lap looking down and me looking at Sam with my arms wrapped around her waist. To the side of the picture, you could see Sam's shoe stuck in the ground. I loved that picture because it was natural and spontaneous, two of my favourite things about Sam. I put it back with a smile and picked up the one next to it, one that I had taken. The photo was taken in the hospital after our last child was born. Sam lay in the hospital bed with Amelia, our middle child who was two at the time, on her lap. Amelia was holding Jenna, the newborn, while supervised by Sam, who had her arms supporting the baby. At the end of the bed sat Jack, our eldest, who was four. All three of them were looking at the baby and smiling happily. It was a beautiful moment, all three of them looking rapturously at the tiny baby in Amelia's arms, who was looking at me curiously. Sam and I had three beautiful children, and we were a very close family. I thought back to when Sam first told me she was pregnant. We had been married for nearly a year when she broke the news. We were sitting at the dinner table, having just finished dinner, when she took my hand.

"So guess what?" she said.

"What?" I asked, preparing myself for a long guessing game. Sam often asked me that question, and I was never allowed to just ask 'what?'. I had to actually guess a few times before she told me. This time, however, she just smiled at me.

"I think I'm pregnant"

I stared at her in shock, unable to believe what I had just heard.

"Seriously? Like, for real?"

She nodded, a grin slowly spreading across her face. I laughed in sheer joy before leaping out of my seat and scooping Sam into an enormous hug, twirling her around. I had never been so excited in my life. I was going to be a dad! As soon as I put Sam down I picked up the phone and called my mom, and I could see Sam pick up her cell and call her mom. My mom wouldn't stop talking, unsurprisingly, so Sam hung up first, and then she called Carly. When I finally got my mom off the phone I turned around and looked at Sam, who was standing behind me smiling. I ran over to her and kissed her before bending down and kissing her flat stomach.

Sam had a very easy pregnancy. She didn't get morning sickness or anything. The only thing that wasn't perfect was that pregnant Sam was hormonal Sam, and hormonal Sam was not one to be trifled with. I hadn't seen Sam this touchy and violent since we were kids, and I quickly learned not to question her, just do what she said. Other than that, pregnancy suited Sam, and I finally understood what people meant when they said that moms-to-be "glow". I had always thought that was rubbish, but Sam did indeed seem to glow as though illuminated from the inside. She had a textbook delivery, a beautiful, healthy baby boy. We took to parenthood instantly. Neither of us had that much experience with babies, but parenthood became us. It probably helped that Jack was the easiest baby ever. He almost never cried, slept through the night from six weeks, and was just generally a happy, placid kid. A few months later, Carly had her first kid, a baby girl named Jodie. Jodie and Jack had playdates from the time they were a few months old, and grew up as close as any brother and sister. Sam and I were incandescently happy, on an eternal buzz. Then, when Jack was a year and a half, Sam discovered she was pregnant again, adding to our happiness. This pregnancy, however, was not as easy as the first. Sam got terrible morning sickness from beginning to end, and used to ache all over. The delivery was normal, but Amelia was not as easy as Jack was. She was colicky, and fussy, and Sam began to fall into a depression. I worked during the day, and poor Sam was left at home alone with a toddler and a fussy newborn, and she used to be so stressed out when I got home that she was on the verge of tears. Eventually Amelia grew out of it, though, and we once again became the happy family. Six months after Amelia was born, Zoe, Carly's middle child, arrived, adding some more fun to the playdates. Sam and I had just decided that it was time to stop having kids when lo and behold! Sam became pregnant again. At first she was anxious, since she had such a rough time with Amelia, but this pregnancy was much like the first, with a similarly easy delivery. By then we were pros at handling chaos, and the transition from two kids to three went much more smoothly than the transition from one kid to two. Three months before Jenna was born Carly had her youngest, Matthew. We saw Carly and her husband, James, all the time, and our kids grew up as family. Even to this day, our kids were all best friends, and Matthew and Jenna were married. Sam and I had the perfect life – steady jobs, three beautiful children, a nice house, friends, a cat. We led a charmed life, and we were both eternally grateful for everything we had.

I put the picture down and looked at the rest of the photos on the bureau. Family pictures were scattered everywhere, starting from when Jack was a baby and ranging up until a few months ago. I picked up that picture and looked at it. Sam and I sat on a bench in Jack's garden, surrounded by our kids and ten grandkids, everybody smiling for the camera. I put the picture back and scanned the collection of family photos, seeing our kids grow up before my eyes. We had been blessed with our children – they were all beautiful, and smart, and funny, and athletic, the kind of people that everybody else was jealous of. But those weren't the best things. All three of our kids were incredibly decent people – kind, and sweet, and charming. We truly had a beautiful family. I stood back and looked at the photos clustered on the tabletop. Photos of Carly, Sam and I from iCarly, photos of Sam and I when we were dating, wedding photos, family photos. My life in pictures. Suddenly, I heard the bed sheets rustle behind me. I turned around to see Sam's eyelids fluttering as she woke up.

"Hey" I said, smiling as I slowly made my way over to the bed. I leaned down and gave her a kiss on her fragile forehead.

"That was crap" she said, her voice groggy from sleep. "Give me a proper kiss"

I laughed and leaned down, kissing her softly.

"Better" she said. "How long have you been here?"

"I dunno" I said, looking at my watch. "Wow, quite a while, actually"

"Well why didn't you wake me up, nub?"

"You need your sleep. Besides, I was just…thinking"

"Thinking?"

"Yeah, thinking"

"About what?"

"How amazing you are"

"You know it"

"And how lucky I am to have had such a great life with you"

"Don't you forget it"

"I love you"

"I love you too, dork"


End file.
